SWAMPSCOTT— Three yards at a time and control the clock.

That's the offense the Gloucester football team was looking to execute in their season opener against Swampscott yesterday afternoon at Blocksidge Field. The Fishermen got just what they wanted out of their offense in their 27-0 win over the Big Blue.

The Fishermen rushed for 260 yards in the game and had two drives of 14 plays or more in the win.

"That's our offense, three yards at a time and ball control," Gloucester senior running back Conor Ressel said. "The offensive line was great and opened up some big holes for us. This is a huge confidence boost for us, getting revenge on a team that beat us last year."

Swampscott head coach Steve Dembowski could do nothing but tip his cap to the Fishermen.

"They just grounded us," Dembowski said. "When you play Gloucester it comes down to how many big plays we can make against their pressure and we didn't make many. We knew what they were going to do but they did it out of a lot of unique formations and motions, they did a great job attacking the perimeter which is where they had success against us last year too."

The Fishermen defense held the Big Blue to 182 yards of offense. What's most impressive is that the Fishermen held Swampscott's highly touted passing attack to just 54 yards. Swampscott quarterback Matt Barbuzzi finished the game 8-for-18 for 54 yards. The senior captain faced constant pressure from the Fishermen's patented blitzes; he was sacked three times and constantly flushed out of the pocket.

Ironically, the Fishermen had more passing yards then the Big Blue. Known for passing the ball minimally, Gloucester head coach Paul Ingram called 11 pass plays with senior quarterback and co-captain Brett Cahill completing six for 74 yards and a touchdown.

The Fishermen took the lead on their first drive of the game, a nine play 53 yard drive that ate 5:30 off the clock. Ressel finished off the drive with a 17 yard run down the right side making it 6-0 Fishermen.

After trading punts and finishing off the first quarter, the Fishermen forced the Big Blue to punt again from their own 45 yard line. Junior Mike Tomaino blocked Swampscott's punt attempt while Jordan Shairs picked up the ball at midfield and ran it down to the Swampscott 17. Three plays later senior fullback Alessandro D'Angelo scored on a four yard plunge, Ressel added the two point conversion to give the Fishermen a 14-0 lead.

Gloucester, however, was not done. The Fishermen got the ball back with just over five minutes to play in the half at their own 20. The offense methodically drove the ball down the field and were aided by a third down catch from Shairs and an 18 yard run from Ressel. The senior running back put the icing on the cake on fourth and goal, diving at the pylon after a run over the right side scoring with no time on the clock in the half and giving the Fishermen a 21-0 lead at the break.

"That was the critical drive of the game," Dembowski said. "For us it's no big deal being down by two touchdowns at the half, but three is a lot tougher."

After Swampscott drove the ball to midfield in their first drive of the third quarter, they were again forced to punt. The Big Blue, however, did pin the Fishermen inside the 10 yard line at their own nine. However, Gloucester put together another one of their long, clock-eating drives, going 91 yards on 16 plays and taking 8:30 off the clock ending on the first play of the fourth quarter after beginning with 8:25 left in the third. The drive culminated with a Cahill six yard touchdown pass to Chris Unis on third and goal.

On the drive the Fishermen also converted a fourth down conversion. Cahill and Unis delivered the big play, hooking up for a 20 yard completion on third and 18.

"Drives like that demoralize your opponent," Ressel said.

Ressel led the way for the Fishermen with 103 yards and two TDs on 14 carries while D'Angelo added 75 on 11 carries. Unis led all receivers with 49 yards on three catches. Kyle Shonio led the Big Blue with 64 yards on six carries while Barbuzzi had 34 yards on five carries.